Five dodecahedron card indicia dice

ABSTRACT

A set of dice utilizing five die each having the shape of a dodecahedron with twelve flat surfaces. Symbols representing the face and number cards of a standard 52 card deck of playing cards are distributed over the surface of the dice and displayed thereon. Each die displays at least 10 and at most 11 of the symbols, and the latter are distributed so that the symbols of a particular suit on one die vary in their value by at least five increments while the four remaining dice have a similar distribution except for one combination. Additionally, the dice may have the symbols distributed so that no die has two symbols of the same value but different suits. Surfaces of the dice not having card symbols display markings which can be &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;wild cards&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and/or may further serve promotional purposes such as the advertising of goods or services. This distribution of the card symbols over the dice enables the playing of many card games, particularly poker.

United States Patent Primary ExaminerAnton O. Oechsle AssistantExaminer-Arnold W. Kramer Attorney-Warren, Rubin, Brucker & ChickeringABSTRACT: A set of dice utilizing five die each having the shape of adodecahedron with twelve flat surfaces. Symbols representing the faceand number cards of a standard 52 card deck of playing cards aredistributed over the surface of the dice and displayed thereon. Each diedisplays at least 10 and at most 1 l of the symbols, and the latter aredistributed so that the symbols of a particular suit on one die vary intheir value by at least five increments while the four remaining dicehave a similar distribution except for one combination. Additionally,the dice may have the symbols distributed so that no die has two symbolsof the same value but different suits. Surfaces of the dice not havingcard symbols display markings which can be wild cards" and/0r mayfurther serve promotional purposes such as the advertising of goods orservices. This distribution of the card symbols over the dice enablesthe playing of many card games, particularly poker.

PMENTED 8EP28 I97! I v N ROBERT W. EDISON BY 30mm, fl g- I ATTORNEYSFIVE DODECAHEDRON CARD INDICIA DICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to game dice and more particularly to game dicecapable of simulating the game of poker.

Several types of game dice have previously been employed to simulatevarious card games and particularly poker. One approach has been to usestandard six-sided dice cubes, each side numbered from one to six. Thedice are rolled simultaneously, and the best poker hand is selected. Aswill be readily understood, however, only a very limited number of pokerhands can occur when dice of this type are used. For example, only twotypes of straights, a six high and a five high, can be rolled. Flushesare not usually possible since no suits are represented, and even whenso represented only a limited number of flushes are possible. Moreover,the pairs, three of a kind, etc. are limited to denominations under six.

Another prior form of dice, often called poker dice, is a set of cubes,as above described, but numbered nine, 10, jack, queen, king and ace.These dice do not materially enhance the players ability to simulate thegame of poker, except that suits are usually represented which allowsflushes to he rolled. Essentially the same limitations on the number ofpossibilities for dice numbered for one to six exist.

Still another type of game dice which have been previously employed andwhich afford a greater ability than six-sided cubes to simulate the gameof poker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 654,112. Five dice having theshape of a dodecahedron with 12 sides are used. The denominations of thecards in a standard four-suit, 52-card deck of playing cards have beenapplied to the dice. Since there are only 52 cards, these dice areformed to prevent the occurrence of sides of the dice which do notdisplay a symbol representing the denomination of a card in the deck ofcards. Two opposite surfaces on four of the dice have been rounded sothat such surfaces cannot come to rest on a flat supporting surface suchas a playing table. The possible number of different surfaces that canbe rolled is thereby limited to 52. As an alternative to the rounding ofsuch surfaces, outwardly protruding pins have been provided in opposedsurfaces. Such a construction of the dice, however, is relativelyexpensive, as compared to giving the dice the shape of a truedodecahedron, and furthermore gives the set of dice an unsightlyappearance. Moreover the slightest imbalance in the weight or shape ofthe rounded surfaces or the pins can favor the occurrence of one or theother of the surfaces. This would, of course, effect the playing of agame in which each surface displacing a symbol should have an equalprobability of occurring.

In addition and importantly, these game dice are formed with the cardsof each suit of the deck distributed equally over the five dice. Theresult of such a distribution, however, is that the dice still onlyafford a poor approximation of the conditions for playing poker, Forexample, these dice will only yield a limited number of straights orstraight flushes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a set of diceadapted for playing poker as well as other card games. The dice arecomprised of a set of five dodecahedrons, each defining 12 flat surfacesdisplaying 52 symbols selected from four suits, or colors. Each suit has13 different denominations of 13 different values which differ inincrements from a lowest to highest value. For the purposes of thisdisclosure, the term denominations shall mean the values of the face andnumber cards in each suit of cards of the deck of cards. The values ofthe denominations in each suit is identical, and each dodecahedrondisplays at least and at most 11 symbols. The symbols on eachdodecahdron represent denominations which vary from other denominationsof the same suit by at least five value increments. Each dodecahedronfurthermore displays no more than one symbol representing a denominationof a given value. Surface of the dodecahedron not displaying symbolsdisplay markings not selected from the denominations of the suits whichmay be used as so-called wild cards." In addition, these markings maycommunicate a commercial or other promotional message to the player.

All dice have the form of a true dodecahedron to enable their relativelyinexpensive mass production and enhance their appearance as compared tothe above-described prior art devices. In addition, there is no dangerof favoring certain of the surfaces of the dice by a possible imbalancedapplication of pins, for example, so that each surface, and with eachsymbol representing a card in the deck, has an equal probability ofoccurrence when the dice are rolled.

In addition, the distribution of the symbols over the surfaces of thedice so that any two denominations of a particular suit of the deckoccurring in a given dice are separated by at least five valueincrements is of particular importance when playing card games in whicheach player plays with five cards, the most well known among which ispoker. Furthermore, since many card games, particularly poker, assignparticular significance to hands of cards of like values, but being fromdifferent suits of the deck of cards the cards are arranged so that eachvalue of a card in the deck, regardless of its suit, appears only oncein each die.

With this distribution of denominations over the surfaces of the set offive dice, it is possible to obtain virtually any combination of carddenominations that is of significance. Thus, players can roll astraight," a flush, a straight flush," or four or five of a kind (thelatter being possible only if wild cards are used in the game). Thequoted terms in the preceding sentence have well established meaning inthe art of playing cards and are therefore, not further expoundedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one dieconstructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the die shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawing, die10 has 12 identically shaped, flat surfaces 12 to define a fullysymmetric polygonal dodecahedron. When rolled, one of the surfaces ofthe die rests on a support such as a table top (not shown) while theopposing surface of the dodecahedron faces away from the support surfaceand is the surface which is read or displays the card symbol whichconstitutes part of the hand. The dice may be constructed of anydesirable material, such as wood, metals, glass, bone, etc. In thepresently preferred embodiment, however, the dice are injection moldedof a plastic to keep their cost low while reducing their estheticappearance.

Applied to each set of five dice are symbols, such as spades 18,diamonds 20, hearts 22 or clubs 24 representing the four suits of eachstandard deck of playing cards. Each symbol furthermore includes adesignation, such as numerals 26 or letters 28, representing number andface cards, respectively, of the deck of cards. The numbers representthe number cards 2 through 10 while the letters J, O, K and A,respectively, denote the face cards jack, queen, king and the ace ofeach suit. The shape of the symbol, i.e. whether it is a heart, a spade,etc., and the number or letter with which it is combined determine thedenomination and suit of the playing card represented by the symbol.Alternatively, and to provide the dice with a more artistic appearance,the symbols representing face cards of the deck of cards may beelaborated on and may depict the picture of a jack, a queen, or a king.

If the dice are rolled, all sides of each die have an equal probabilityof occurring, that is of being disposed oppositely from the dice surfaceresting on the table top. To enable the greatest possible combination ofhands, the arrangement of the symbols representing the variousdenominations of the cards in a deck of playing cards must be carefullyarranged as set forth below.

In card games requiring five cards per player, which include many of thepopular poker games, the symbols are arranged so that the carddenominations represented by them enable the occurrence of all, or asmany as possible, combinations of symbols to which significance isattached in the particular game that is being played. If the game ispoker, the symbols must be placed on the dice so that the distributionof the card denominations allow the following combinations: two, threeor four denominations of the same value with each being of a differentsuit (pairs, three of a kind, four of a kind and a full house); fivesymbols representing denominations separated by single value incrementswithout regard to the suit to which the denominations belong (straight);symbols representing denominations of the same suit irrespective oftheir value (flush); and five symbols representing denominations of thesame suit and separated by single value increments (straight flush).

To enable the occurrence of these hands the symbols on each dierepresenting denominations of the same suit must be separated by atleast five value increments. For example, the die in FIGS. 1 and 2includes the three of clubs. The next club denomination that may occuron that same die is the eight of clubs, which is separated from thethree by five value increments. That same die may further include athird symbol representing a club denomination, but which must beseparated from the eight of clubs by at least five value increments.Only the king and the ace of clubs satisfy this requirement since theformer is separated from the eight by five and the latter by six valueincrements. The illustrated die includes the king of clubs. The samearrangement must be maintained for the club denominations on all otherdice of the set of five dice as well as for the denominations of theremaining suits.

To further illustrate the distribution of the denominations by cardvalue and suit, table I shows a presently preferred distribution of thedenominations over five dice identified as A through E. The left-handcolumn under each letter identifying a die represents the value of thedenomination displayed on one of the surfaces of the die, and theright-hand side of each column identifies the suit to which the valueindicator on the left-hand side belongs. Thus, C stands for clubs, D fordiamonds, H for hearts, and S for spades. The significance of thesurfaces indicating joker," or identified by an asterisk is set forthafter the tables. The die illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is die C.

It will be noted that any combination of card denominations havingsignificance in the game of poker can be obtained with the five dicewhen the card denominations are distributed thereover as shown in tableI. The singular exception are certain of the possible same suit cardcombinations or flushes, and some of the possible three of a kind andtwo of a kind combinations, or full houses. Notwithstanding theseexceptions, however, the present dice are capable of much more closelyapproximating the game of poker by reason of the fact that many morecombinations of hands are possible than with previous game dice.

Moreover and importantly, the symbol distribution pattern of the presentinvention results in three dice having three of the same suit and thosesame dice also including an ace, king or queen. Since the highest cardor cards in a flush determine the strength of the hand, it is possibleon the second roll draw) to attempt to roll for a higher flush bypicking up a die having three of one suit. Rerolling one of those diceto attempt to obtain a higher flush means that the player will have a 1in 4 chance of obtaining a flush again and a l in 12 chance of obtainingeither a queen, king or ace high flush. The odds are even furtherenhanced if wild cards are used. Thus, the distribution system of thepresent invention in part overcomes the deficiency in obtaining certainflush combinations by its ability to obtain high flushes. Similarly,while some full houses are not possible, the hand with the highest threeof a kind will win. Since any three of a kind is possible, the playermay on a second roll often select a die or dice which will give him achance to roll a higher three of a kind. Thus, the distribution of thecard denominations disclosed in table 1 permits the playing of pokerwith almost the same effect, as far as the probability of obtaining awinning hand is concerned, as if it were played with a regular 52 deckof playing cards. Table ll is similar to table I but shows a slightvariation in the distribution of the card denominations over thesurfaces of the five dice.

TABLEI A B C D E AH AS AD AC KH KS KD KC OH 05 OD QC JH JS JD JC lOH lOSlOD 10C 9H 9S 90 9C 8H 85 8D 8C 7H 7D 7C 6H 65 60 6C SH 55 SD 5C 4H 454D 4C 3H 3S 3D 3C 2H 28 2D ZC Joker Joker Joker TABLEll A B C D E AH ADAS AC KH KD KS KC 0" OD QS QC JH JD JS JC 10H lOD lOS lOC 9H 9D 95 9C 8H8C 7H 70 75 7C 6" 6D 65 6C 5H 5D SS 5C 4H 4D 45 4C 3H 3D 35 3C 2H 2D 252C Joker Joker Joker c a c a c As can be seen from an inspection of thetables, at least 10 and at most ll of the surfaces of each die display asymbol representing a card of the deck. Consequently, each die has atleast one and three die have two surfaces which do not display such asymbol and which are utilized as follows: Each die receives a marking 30(identified by an asterisk in tables I and II) which may communicate anydesired information and which, in a preferred form of this invention,represents a trademark a trade name, or an advertising slogan, which isused for promotional purposes. Thus, this mark has no relationship tothe symbols representing playing cards and may be ignored during a gameof rolling the dice of the present invention (in which case the playerrolling the mark may be allowed to roll that die a second time, forexample). Alternatively, the marks may be treated as so-called wildcards for which the player rolling the mark may assign thereto anydesired card denomination which maximizes the value of the dice rolledby him. On the three dice having two surfaces not displaying a symbolrepresenting a card denomination the second surfaces may either beprovided with a second trademark 30 or they may be identified as joker"cards 32, i.e., wild cards.

It is noted in table I that for four of the five dice there is not aseparation of at least five increments for each value combination as,for example, in column A the combination involving the A H and 4 H; incolumn B between the A S and 4 S; in column C between the A D and 4 D;and in column D between the A C and 4 C. The separation in column Ebetween the K H and 3 H is not significant for, as is well known, thereis no straight flush in poker involved therein. A similar anomaly occursin all the permutations for four of the five dice constructed in themanner taught herein as may be verified, for example, by inspection oftable ll. However, only one straight flush per suit is precluded frombeing rolled for five dodecahedron dice marked as taught herein.

To play the game, each player rolls a set of five dice on a flat tabletop, for example. The same set of dice may be rolled in turn, or eachplayer may have his own set of dice. Surfaces of the dice facing awayfrom the table top determine the value of the hand rolled by thatplayer. The highest hand wins. Players rolling one or more marks or 32can assign that value to the marks which maximizes the value of the handrolled by them.

Although the above-disclosed dice game is particularly well adapted forthe game of poker, other games can, of course, be played with it. It isfurther possible to change the shape and configuration of the symbolsrepresenting the card denominations, or to employ numbers only, etc.without departing from the scope of this invention. Moreover, the flatfaces can be formed as circular surfaces inscribed within the pentagonalsurfaces illustrated in the drawing with each die being rounded betweensuch surfaces.

lclaim:

l. A set of five dice each formed as a dodecahedron with l2 identicallyformed flat surfaces, 52 of said surfaces of said dice having symbolsrepresenting all denominations of each of four suits of a standard deckof 52 playing cards positioned thereon, said denominations in each suiton each die increasing in increments from a lowest to a highest value,the improvement comprising:

an arrangement of said symbols representing said denominations relativeto said surfaces of said dice wherein each die has at least 10 and atmost 11 symbols positioned on the 12 surfaces thereof, and wherein saidsymbols are further positioned on one die with the denominationrepresented by said symbols within each of said four suits separated bya value difference of at least five increments, and the symbols furtherpositioned on each of the four remaining dice with the denominationrepresented by said symbols within each of said four suits beingseparated in every combination of symbols but one combination by a valuedifference within each of said suits of at least five increments,whereby every straight flush but one per suit may be obtained upon aroll of the dice.

2. A set of dice as defined in claim ll wherein,

said symbols are further arranged on said surfaces of said dice with nomore than one symbol positioned on each die representing any givendenomination of said four suits.

3. A set of five dice each formed as a dodecahedron with 12 identicallyformed flat surfaces, 52 of said surfaces of said dice having symbolsrepresenting all denominations of each of four suits of a standard deckof 52 playing cards positioned thereon, said denominations in each suiton each die increasing in increments from a lowest to a highest value,the improvement comprising:

each die being in physical balance thereby preventing the favoring ordisfavoring of any one surface of each die from turning up, and havingan arrangement of said symbols representing said denominations relativeto said surfaces of said dice wherein each die has at least l0 and atmost ll symbols positioned on the 12 surfaces thereof, and wherein saidsymbols are further positioned on each die to provide a mathematicalbalancing having one die with the denomination represented by saidsymbols within each of said four suits separated by a value differenceof at least five increments, and the symbols further positioned on eachof the flour remaining dice with the denomination represented by saidsymbols within each of said four suits being separated in everycombination of symbols but one combination by a value difference withineach of said suits of at least five increments, whereby every straightflush but one per suit may be obtained by a roll of the dice. 4. A setof dice as defined in claim 3 wherein, said symbols are further arrangedon said surfaces of said dice with no more than one symbol positioned oneach die representing any given denomination of said four suits.

5. A set of five dice each formed as a dodecahedron with 12 identicallyformed flat surfaces, 52 of said surfaces of said dice having symbolsrepresenting all denominations of each of four suits of a standard deckof 52 playing cards positioned thereon, said denominations in each suiton each die increasing in increments from a lowest to a highest value,the improvement comprising:

all permutations of each of said suits on one die being separated by adenominational value difference of at least five increments, and whereinall permutations of three of said suits on each of the four remainingdice are separated by a denominational value difference of at least fiveincrements and all but one of the permutations of the remaining suit oneach of said four remaining dice are separated by a denominationalvallue difference of at least five increments, whereby every straightflush but one per suit may be obtained upon a roll of the dice. 6. A setof dice as defined in claim 5 wherein, said symbols are further arrangedon said surfaces of said dice with.no more than one symbol positioned oneach die representing any given denomination of said four suits.

1. A set of five dice each formed as a dodecahedron with 12 identicallyformed flat surfaces, 52 of said surfaces of said dice having symbolsrepresenting all denominations of each of four suits of a standard deckof 52 playing cards positioned thereon, said denominations in each suiton each die increasing in increments from a lowest to a highest value,the improvement comprising: an arrangement of said symbols representingsaid denominations relative to said surfaces of said dice wherein eachdie has at least 10 and at most 11 symbols positioned on tHe 12 surfacesthereof, and wherein said symbols are further positioned on one die withthe denomination represented by said symbols within each of said foursuits separated by a value difference of at least five increments, andthe symbols further positioned on each of the four remaining dice withthe denomination represented by said symbols within each of said foursuits being separated in every combination of symbols but onecombination by a value difference within each of said suits of at leastfive increments, whereby every straight flush but one per suit may beobtained upon a roll of the dice.
 2. A set of dice as defined in claim 1wherein, said symbols are further arranged on said surfaces of said dicewith no more than one symbol positioned on each die representing anygiven denomination of said four suits.
 3. A set of five dice each formedas a dodecahedron with 12 identically formed flat surfaces, 52 of saidsurfaces of said dice having symbols representing all denominations ofeach of four suits of a standard deck of 52 playing cards positionedthereon, said denominations in each suit on each die increasing inincrements from a lowest to a highest value, the improvement comprising:each die being in physical balance thereby preventing the favoring ordisfavoring of any one surface of each die from turning up, and havingan arrangement of said symbols representing said denominations relativeto said surfaces of said dice wherein each die has at least 10 and atmost 11 symbols positioned on the 12 surfaces thereof, and wherein saidsymbols are further positioned on each die to provide a mathematicalbalancing having one die with the denomination represented by saidsymbols within each of said four suits separated by a value differenceof at least five increments, and the symbols further positioned on eachof the four remaining dice with the denomination represented by saidsymbols within each of said four suits being separated in everycombination of symbols but one combination by a value difference withineach of said suits of at least five increments, whereby every straightflush but one per suit may be obtained by a roll of the dice.
 4. A setof dice as defined in claim 3 wherein, said symbols are further arrangedon said surfaces of said dice with no more than one symbol positioned oneach die representing any given denomination of said four suits.
 5. Aset of five dice each formed as a dodecahedron with 12 identicallyformed flat surfaces, 52 of said surfaces of said dice having symbolsrepresenting all denominations of each of four suits of a standard deckof 52 playing cards positioned thereon, said denominations in each suiton each die increasing in increments from a lowest to a highest value,the improvement comprising: all permutations of each of said suits onone die being separated by a denominational value difference of at leastfive increments, and wherein all permutations of three of said suits oneach of the four remaining dice are separated by a denominational valuedifference of at least five increments and all but one of thepermutations of the remaining suit on each of said four remaining diceare separated by a denominational value difference of at least fiveincrements, whereby every straight flush but one per suit may beobtained upon a roll of the dice.
 6. A set of dice as defined in claim 5wherein, said symbols are further arranged on said surfaces of said dicewith no more than one symbol positioned on each die representing anygiven denomination of said four suits.